Croswell, MI

Croswell is a Sanilac County city in Michigan's Thumb, a farming community split by the Black River and remembered for a bridge with a wonderfully blunt name. The 2020 census counted 2,322 residents. The settlement began as Black River in 1845, became Davisville after its first postmaster, and eventually took the Croswell name. Corn, wheat, soybeans, sugar beets, peas, and alfalfa fill the surrounding farm map. The summer fair, public airport, and river races give the city extra reasons to gather when the weather turns warm again.

The local star is the “Be Good to Your Mother-in-Law” footbridge, better known as the Croswell Swinging Bridge. Its wood planks and suspension cables cross the Black River, and the annual Swinging Bridge Festival brings cardboard boat races and a town-sized excuse to gather by the water. Croswell's local scoop is a Thumb city where agriculture sets the pace, the river cuts through the middle, and one footbridge does a lot of the introducing.